Is it better to send more than one letter of recommendation if they are not required?

Answered

Hi @nirbk!

I think a good rule of thumb for this question is: "Would I want to read that letter if I was an admissions officer?"

You'll almost always want to write optional essays because those demonstrate commitment — a student who doesn't write those is signaling their lack of interest in the college. But since recommendation letters are much easier to get (from a students' perspective), you'll only want to send what's necessary to convey your story.

You'll always want your first recommendation letter to be from a teacher in the subject area you wish to major in. Your second letter should either be a teacher who knows you well personally (like from extracurriculars), or a teacher who can share a contrasting perspective of you as a student (a teacher whose class you initially struggled in, or a humanities teacher to compliment the rec letter from your STEM teacher). Third letters are pretty rare and almost always optional. These should only be added if you have a non-traditional recommender (like a coach or supervisor) whose perspective is absolutely vital to your story as an applicant.

Each recommendation letter should showcase a different side of your personality and interests. So, if you think the perspective added by that second letter is absolutely vital to the version of yourself you're trying to portray to admissions officers, then go for it! But if it's just a second letter saying you were a good and curious student, then it's not worth the trouble (and won't hurt you not to send). In this case you should default to not making admissions officers do any more work than they need to.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions.